Read Online The Time of Your Life by Isabella Cass - Free Book Online Page B

the arm of his
chair for Holly, who sat down with a shy smile and
exchanged a little True Romance look with him. Those
two are so sweet together I'm getting a sugar-rush just looking
at them! Cat thought. If it was anyone other than Holly,
it would be totally sick-making.
    And now Nick and Lettie were sharing a bag of
Maltesers, engrossed in a technical sound-editing
conversation – but, Cat noticed, Nick had a daft,
dreamy look on his face that had nothing to do with
the choice of music for the banquet scene in Macbeth.
    Then Jack poked his head into the common room,
looking for a library book he'd mislaid. 'Oh, how's the
belly-dancing going, Lettie?' he called over with a big
grin. Lettie stared at him blankly.
    What was that all about? Cat asked herself. Belle
blushed, and gazed at Jack as he did a quick book search
before hurrying off to look in the dining room. Nick
glanced at Belle, smiled, and then winked knowingly at
Cat. He'd obviously seen her reaction too.
    What was going on? Cat wondered. Were they
putting something in the water at Superstar High? It was
like the scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream where
everyone wakes up with fairy juice on their eyelids and
falls in love with the first person they see . . .
    Cat was almost relieved when Bianca and Mayu came
into the common room. At least those two could be
relied upon to break up the love-a-thon with a bit of
good old-fashioned, no-nonsense spite.
    'Come on, Lettie,' Bianca called. 'We're going to
get ice creams at Café Roma – and wait till you
hear this: the most hysterical thing happened at the
costume call today . . .'
    Yep! Bianca is nothing if not predictable! Cat thought.
    Lettie smiled awkwardly and got up to join Bianca
and Mayu. 'What happened?' she asked.
    'Ooh, can't tell you here.' Bianca smiled wickedly,
looking straight at Belle. 'Sir Prance-a-lot might get
upset and run me through with her sword!'
    'So what did happen?' Holly asked after they'd left.
Cat and Belle recounted the story of the Armour
Fiasco and the Delayed Arrival of Lady Macbeth. They
could both see the funny side of it now, and everyone
was soon roaring with laughter.
    'So that explains it!' Gemma said, still laughing. 'I wondered why Bianca and Mayu were fossicking about
in the wardrobe storeroom this afternoon when I went
to look for Serena. Said they were helping clear out
some old costumes. I thought that seemed a bit too useful for those two!'
    Gradually everyone started heading off to their
rooms. Holly waved goodbye to Ethan, who left rather
reluctantly to revise for a French test.
    Cat stared into the embers of the fire and sighed.
'Time to tackle that history essay,' she murmured to
nobody in particular. A miserable ache oozed through
her body at the thought of an evening with Henry VIII
and her laptop.
    'You should take a night off,' Belle told her. 'You
look shattered.'
    Suddenly Holly jumped up. 'Ooh, Bianca's just
given me a Great Idea!' she announced. 'Meet me in
your room in half an hour.'
    Cat and Belle exchanged bamboozled looks.
    What Great Idea could Holly Devenish – the kind
of girl who helps old ladies across the road and rescues
stray hedgehogs – possibly have that had been inspired
by Bianca Hayford's scheming brain?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    Belle: Girls' Night In
    'Ta-da!' Holly fanfared, throwing open the door and
letting the contents of her overloaded arms tumble
onto the coffee table. 'There's Chocolate Chip
Cookie-dough, Very Berry Swirl and Rocky Road . . .
courtesy of Café Roma!'
    So that was Bianca's Great Idea!
    Belle had to admit that for once Bianca was
right. Whatever the question was, family-size tubs
of Italian ice cream were definitely the answer!
But how had Holly got permission to go off alone to
Café Roma at this time? Year Eight students weren't
allowed out of school unaccompanied after 6.30 p.m.
'I asked Ethan to run out and get it for me,'
Holly explained. 'Year Tens can sign out until eight
o'clock.'
    'I don't know about you, Hols,